Since the beginning of his career, Ben Chodor has been a trailblazer in the technology space, businesses founded by him have redefined innovation and disrupted industries, and he’s looking to do the same with his current focus on the automotive industry as the CEO of CallRevu. Under his leadership, the company is revolutionizing the industry with its advanced AI-based solutions, which enable dealerships to engage more effectively with prospective and existing customers, selling more, and fostering loyalty.
Besides harnessing the power of technology and AI to elevate communication intelligence, Ben places a strong emphasis on empowering his team, a key factor to his success. He believes that the empowerment of employees is critical to ensuring a better service to customers. Ben leads the way he expects to be led, which includes being involved.
From Streaming Service to AI-based Service
In 1998, before Netflix introduced its video streaming service and videos appeared on the internet, Ben dove into entrepreneurship with a streaming media business, and it is this first endeavor that had him hooked on tech-driven innovation.
Following the sale of his streaming company, Ben embarked on a new venture in the healthcare sector, co-founding the pioneering digital health mobile application marketplace in 2011. This was a time when the iPhone and apps were just beginning to become a part of daily life and reliance on them was in its infancy.
Ben and his partner’s first total mobile solution provided healthcare enterprises, including hospitals, continuing care facilities, and physician practices, with the capability to create individually branded, secure, multi-platform app stores to support the mobile technology use of employees and patients. The venture not only thrived but also led Ben to an opportunity to address Congress on the nuances of FDA regulations concerning apps, delineating between medical and monitoring applications.
Ben Chodor President of Notified, he managed the world’s only communications cloud for events, IR and PR. Subsequentially, he transitioned to CallRevu in August of 2023.
Views on the Use of AI
Ben’s decision to join CallRevu was driven by his goal to do something very AI-focused, although he recognizes that it is neither an antidote nor a secret pill. Currently, in addition to his role as CEO at CallRevu, Ben also serves on the Board of CoCreations, a company specializing in aggregating AI content.
He recalls the time, about 7 or 8 years ago, when everyone was raving about cryptocurrencies and saying, “blockchain is the future.” This led to the mushrooming of blockchain companies. “My joke used to be, ‘if you could substitute the word blockchain with database, it was not a blockchain company that was doing providence and everything that goes along with it,” he says. AI currently is in a similar phase. Everyone is getting on the AI bandwagon, believing that it is going to solve everything. “No, it is not,” Ben says.
He refers to a quote to explain how AI can help: “AI takes away the fear of the blank page. It is a tool that you have to be in control of. It helps you get things started.” Ben says that it helps in doing tasks that one prefers not to do or those that take longer to complete. “But it can’t solve everything,” he adds.
Giving an example of the AI-based interactive voice response (IVR), he points out that it can be useful only when leveraged thoughtfully and methodically. Customers, especially in the automotive industry, still prefer to talk to humans at the end of the day rather than an AI voice. “I am not buying a car from an avatar or an AI product,” Ben points out. “I still need to get to a human to close on a purchase.”
However, for Ben and his team at CallRevu, the use of AI makes perfect sense. Previously, humans were used to type the transcript and write the summary. “If I could do this faster, more accurately, and improve engagement – the use of AI makes a lot of sense,” Ben explains.
This is one of the most exciting things at CallRevu, Ben says. The shift from human transcription of every phone call to the AI-based system that transcribes every single call and interaction “[It] is not a technology just for the sake of technology,” he says. “It is enabling us to be more accurate, give better information, and be faster.”
Disrupting the Automotive Space
Currently, CallRevu operates exclusively in the automotive space, revolutionizing how dealerships engage with customers through their intelligent communication solution for call tracking & monitoring.
Ben points out that the car is one of the biggest purchases – the other being the house – made by a person, and a prospective buyer still visits a dealership to buy a car, as the process to buy it remains traditional. At dealerships, salespeople are the ones who assist a buyer in choosing the car. CallRevu was born out of a dealership when a dealer was dissatisfied with the responses of his salespeople to customers, so he began to monitor and record their calls, and later, called his salespeople to his office to review their responses. “You could have said this,” he pointed to them, explaining how they could have responded more effectively. This led to the creation of CallRevu.
The CallRevu call monitoring system, transcribes and analyzes every call, extracting its summary, sentiments, and keywords. These actionable insights, such as keywords trigger real-time notifications, alerting managers about a salesperson’s response potentially causing a misunderstanding or a missed opportunity. This, Ben explains, enables managers to intervene promptly, in real-time and clear the misunderstanding or provide additional support. On the service side, too, the use of CallRevu is proving to be beneficial for dealers, as it provides proactive and relevant conversational insights. For example, when a customer calls to schedule an oil change, customer service can inquire about additional services like tire rotation, or tune-ups based on the data they have, leading to better customer engagement, and service.
Elevating performance within the dealership to enhance the customer experience and engagement is what makes us a leader in this space. Ben points out, “We are making the business operations of dealers more seamless, making their customer service better, enabling them to engage with their customers in a much better way, and helping them sell more cars.”
A Typical Workday and Leadership Dynamics
Upon joining CallRevu, Ben identified and addressed prevailing organizational silos, initiating cultural transformations that dismantled these barriers. His approach of listening and empowering staff has been pivotal in reshaping the company’s culture.
Ben’s typical workday is characterized by a mixture of engagements, including one-on-one meetings with his leadership team and direct interactions with customers. He routinely holds discussions with the CFO to assess the company’s monthly progress, a practice he considers part of his fiduciary duties, especially critical in a private equity-run company like CallRevu.
Beyond his executive team, Ben ensures to connect personally with staff members who are not in his direct reporting line, reflecting his commitment to comprehensive organizational engagement. He also supports the customer service team by participating in client calls, emphasizing the value of customers and using the interactions as learning opportunities, particularly valuable as he navigates new industry terrains. Additionally, Ben also prioritizes enhancing customer intimacy through active engagement, recognizing that direct communication with clients is invaluable. He asserts, “You can’t build relationships without engaging,” highlighting his approach to learning and relationship-building with customers.
As CEO, Ben’s responsibilities extend to ensuring financial robustness and revenue growth. However, he adopts a unique perspective on leadership, focusing on empowering his team, inspiring motivation, and collaborating with colleagues who may possess greater expertise in specific areas. Ben describes his leadership style succinctly as “empowering,” a philosophy that also defines his self-perception.
Ben believes that a successful CEO not only holds power but also shares it, trusting his team to make pivotal decisions. This empowerment strategy not only prepares his team for potential executive roles within or outside the company but also fosters a culture of growth and autonomy.
Distinctively, Ben does not see himself as the ultimate decision-maker. He avoids micromanagement, choosing instead to surround himself with capable individuals whose ideas and insights help shape the company’s path. He values diverse perspectives, often noting that the best ideas are those he learns from others, not those that originate from him alone.
The Future
Ben’s vision for CallRevu is grounded in continuous growth, securing new business, and consistently surpassing competitors, all through CallRevu’s unified intelligent communication solutions. Under his leadership, CallRevu intends to not only remain the leader in its current space but also expand into new sectors by consistently innovating products and leveraging technology to redefine the automotive industry. CallRevu’s strategic acquisition of TotalCX, followed by the release of TestTrack – the first immersive, AI-powered automotive training platform – underscores this commitment to innovation. Acquiring industry-leading technology and talent has enabled CallRevu to innovate on a larger scale and at an even more accelerated pace.
In the coming months, CallRevu is set to introduce another groundbreaking AI-driven solution specifically designed to tackle persistent, daily business operational challenges, promising to enhance and elevate customer interactions and service efficiency within the automotive industry. This addition will further enhance CallRevu’s technology suite, delivering streamlined, intelligent communication and reinforcing its market leadership.
“We want to push ourselves to the limit of what technology can achieve. Our goal is to create deeper customer intimacy,” Ben states. He highlights that SaaS-plus companies often have a tendency to undervalue customer service and intimacy, even as customer choice remains pivotal.
“For our customers, we aim to make leaving us an incredibly difficult decision,” Ben asserts. “Beyond liking our product and technology, they should also like us for the customer service and the people who are there to support them. It’s integral to everything we do – both in our people and products. By prioritizing this, we ensure our ability to bring innovative, scalable solutions to market.”
“We are always going to be customer and employee-first,” he adds
Message to Aspiring Leaders
In his guidance to aspiring leaders, Ben underscores the significance of active listening, which he describes as a critical yet often neglected art form. He notes that many leaders fear that silence might be misconstrued as disengagement. However, Ben clarifies that true listening is not about multitasking but about fully absorbing and understanding the messages conveyed by others.
Ben emphasizes the importance of a robust finance team, a critical element he believes is often underemphasized. He advises those in technology or sales roles to ensure they are supported by skilled finance professionals, explaining that effective financial management not only secures a company’s foundational aspects but also frees leaders to concentrate on fostering innovation and enhancing sales.
For emerging leaders Ben advises: “Listen, take a deep breath, fail fast and forward, and keep moving. Being thoughtful and passionate about what you’re doing is essential for success.”
